Maple Shade staff learn more about mental health

Lisa Ryan lryannews

Friday

Oct 26, 2018 at 2:18 PM

Staff from schools in Freehold, Monmouth County ,and Lower Township, Cape May County, joined two nurses and a district social worker from the Maple Shade School District this week, meeting at the Ralph J. Steinhauer Elementary School in Maple Shade for training on helping students address mental health and mental illnesses.

MAPLE SHADE — Community members, administrators, school social workers and nurses from across New Jersey gathered Wednesday to learn more about helping students care for their mental health.

Staff from schools in Freehold, Monmouth County, and Lower Township, Cape May County, joined two nurses and a district social worker from the Maple Shade School District this week, meeting at the Ralph J. Steinhauer Elementary School in Maple Shade to better understand mental health and mental illnesses.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s New Jersey Health Initiatives gave $16,000 grants to each of the three district's superintendents to support their participation, and a $25,000 grant to the Mental Health Association in New Jersey, which provided trainers from Mental Health First Aid USA.

New Jersey Health Initiatives wants to help school staff better identify signs and symptoms of mental illnesses, and better communicate with children and young adults displaying related behaviors. The purpose of the program is to fight fear of mental illness with information and education so that people get the resources they need, said Director Bob Atkins.

“It’s like CPR for mental health,” he said.

Following the Wednesday through Friday training, the small number of staff members from each school who were trained this week will share their knowledge with district staff and township community members, Atkins said. The program teaches adults to address students’ needs non-judgmentally and direct them toward resources for professional and self-help to improve their mental health. During Wednesday’s training, Mental Health First Aid USA presenters said this approach works with almost any mental illness with which a student could be coping.

“As first-aiders, we want to pay attention — not to diagnose — to what’s going on at school, at home,” a presenter told assembled school staff.

Staff learned Wednesday to watch for signs like appetite and mood changes, withdrawal from friends or from what was once a favorite activity, and the like. These symptoms could signal that a young person has depression, anorexia or another mental illness. But those “symptoms” could also be a relatively harmless product of growing up, and not a disruptive product of mental illness, which is why presenters said to use warning signs as a jumping-off point not for diagnoses, but for a conversation with the student about how they are feeling and what is going on in their life.

Maple Shade’s district social worker, Matt Morse, said the training will help in part because anyone can use it — they do not have to be a mental health practitioner, they just have to be involved in a child’s life. Teachers, clergy members, parents and others using the training do not have to assess a child’s problem or treat a mental illness, but can instead show a child that someone cares about their health and wants to help them find the best resources to treat an illness.

“I think that’s a great opportunity,” Morse said. “It allows for the entire community, whether school community or Maple Shade community, to get involved.”

He and the other Maple Shade staff members trained this week were certified to share what they learned with others, passing along greater understanding and awareness, and an open-minded perspective on common mental illnesses.

“I think it’s very user-friendly, I think it really addresses our need we have in our society and culture,” Morse said. “It helps us destigmatize what’s happening in our society.”

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